If a pebble dropped in a pond ripples the surface to the outer edges, what happens when you drop a larger pebble? The ripple effect is bigger. Not only does it impact the surface of the water, the waves rippling across have more power and energy and move things further below the surface.
But is that impact just a wave washing over the rest of the firm roiling their world for a few moments until the ripple effect fades? That is the case for many organizational team building endeavors whether strengths or otherwise. How do you productively apply the energy from the ripple?
Take the case of a consulting firm who wanted to utilize the strengths of the team. The first steps of awareness, appreciation and initial application occurred during the firm’s annual retreat. Not only did each team member get closely acquainted with their own and their teammates strengths, they applied these strengths to real-world client and business issues during the retreat. The ripple created was more than a fun team-building exercise. It led to specific business strategies and the formation of teams specialized by strengths to execute them. A big ripple.
Leadership was not done. To have lasting impact they would have to go deeper by dropping a bigger pebble. That bigger pebble was the participation of the three primary leaders in strengths development focused on specific firm goals and challenges. With clearly established desired outcomes, leadership crafted action plans based on their own and the team’s strengths. A bigger ripple.
Still not done, leadership desired a way to measure and benchmark the steps and results for each outcome. They tied organizational goals to each individual’s contribution and to the teams’ contributions and established a plan for quarterly review of all. An even bigger ripple.
Not content to let waves from a pebble simply lap against the shore, this team moves forward with greater energy and focus. They are equipped with a way to harness and reuse the energy from the ripple effect and put it productively to use.
The larger the pebble the bigger the ripple. Are you ready to harness the ripple effect for your organization? What size pebble do you need to drop? Let’s talk.